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Back to Sciences (Social, Health, Biological, Physical)

All Work Published on Sciences (Social, Health, Biological, Physical)

Three Reasons Why Universities are Crucial for Understanding AI
Sara Zaske
Sep 05, 2025
News
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There is a “fierce urgency” to understand how AI works, says Stanford physicist Surya Ganguli, who is leading a project to bring the inner workings of AI to light through transparent, foundational research. 

Three Reasons Why Universities are Crucial for Understanding AI

Sara Zaske
Sep 05, 2025

There is a “fierce urgency” to understand how AI works, says Stanford physicist Surya Ganguli, who is leading a project to bring the inner workings of AI to light through transparent, foundational research. 

Sciences (Social, Health, Biological, Physical)
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News
Interaction of a Buoyant Plume with a Turbulent Canopy Mixing Layer
Hayoon Chung, Jeffrey R Koseff
Jun 23, 2023
Research
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This study aims to understand the impact of instabilities and turbulence arising from canopy mixing layers on wind-driven wildfire spread. Using an experimental flume (water) setup with model vegetation canopy and thermally buoyant plumes, we study the influence of canopy-induced shear and turbulence on the behavior of buoyant plume trajectories. Using the length of the canopy upstream of the plume source to vary the strength of the canopy turbulence, we observed behaviors of the plume trajectory under varying turbulence yet constant cross-flow conditions. Results indicate that increasing canopy turbulence corresponds to increased strength of vertical oscillatory motion and variability in the plume trajectory/position. Furthermore, we find that the canopy coherent structures characterized at the plume source set the intensity and frequency at which the plume oscillates. These perturbations then move longitudinally along the length of the plume at the speed of the free stream velocity. However, the buoyancy developed by the plume can resist this impact of the canopy structures. Due to these competing effects, the oscillatory behavior of plumes in canopy systems is observed more significantly in systems where the canopy turbulence is dominant. These effects also have an influence on the mixing and entrainment of the plumes. We offer scaling analyses to find flow regimes in which canopy induced turbulence would be relevant in plume dynamics.

Interaction of a Buoyant Plume with a Turbulent Canopy Mixing Layer

Hayoon Chung, Jeffrey R Koseff
Jun 23, 2023

This study aims to understand the impact of instabilities and turbulence arising from canopy mixing layers on wind-driven wildfire spread. Using an experimental flume (water) setup with model vegetation canopy and thermally buoyant plumes, we study the influence of canopy-induced shear and turbulence on the behavior of buoyant plume trajectories. Using the length of the canopy upstream of the plume source to vary the strength of the canopy turbulence, we observed behaviors of the plume trajectory under varying turbulence yet constant cross-flow conditions. Results indicate that increasing canopy turbulence corresponds to increased strength of vertical oscillatory motion and variability in the plume trajectory/position. Furthermore, we find that the canopy coherent structures characterized at the plume source set the intensity and frequency at which the plume oscillates. These perturbations then move longitudinally along the length of the plume at the speed of the free stream velocity. However, the buoyancy developed by the plume can resist this impact of the canopy structures. Due to these competing effects, the oscillatory behavior of plumes in canopy systems is observed more significantly in systems where the canopy turbulence is dominant. These effects also have an influence on the mixing and entrainment of the plumes. We offer scaling analyses to find flow regimes in which canopy induced turbulence would be relevant in plume dynamics.

Sciences (Social, Health, Biological, Physical)
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Research
Yu Zhang
Assistant Professor (Research) of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Public Mental Health and Population Sciences)
Person

Yu Zhang

Assistant Professor (Research) of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Public Mental Health and Population Sciences)
Sciences (Social, Health, Biological, Physical)
Machine Learning
Person
Social Science Moves In Silico
Katharine Miller
Jul 25, 2025
News

Despite limitations, advances in AI offer social science researchers the ability to simulate human subjects.

Social Science Moves In Silico

Katharine Miller
Jul 25, 2025

Despite limitations, advances in AI offer social science researchers the ability to simulate human subjects.

Generative AI
Natural Language Processing
Sciences (Social, Health, Biological, Physical)
News
Minority-group incubators and majority-group reservoirs for promoting the diffusion of climate change and public health adaptations
Matthew Adam Turner, Alyson L Singleton, Mallory J Harris, Cesar Augusto Lopez, Ian Harryman, Ronan Forde Arthur, Caroline Muraida, James Holland Jones
Jan 01, 2023
Research
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Current theory suggests that heterogeneous metapopulation structures can help foster the diffusion of innovations to solve pressing issues including climate change adaptation and promoting public health. In this paper, we develop an agent-based model of the spread of adaptations in simulated populations with minority-majority metapopulation structure, where subpopulations have different preferences for social interactions (i.e., homophily) and, consequently, learn deferentially from their own group. In our simulations, minority-majority-structured populations with moderate degrees of in-group preference better spread and maintained an adaptation compared to populations with more equal-sized groups and weak homophily. Minority groups act as incubators for novel adaptations, while majority groups act as reservoirs for the adaptation once it has spread widely. This suggests that population structure with in-group preference could promote the maintenance of novel adaptations.

Minority-group incubators and majority-group reservoirs for promoting the diffusion of climate change and public health adaptations

Matthew Adam Turner, Alyson L Singleton, Mallory J Harris, Cesar Augusto Lopez, Ian Harryman, Ronan Forde Arthur, Caroline Muraida, James Holland Jones
Jan 01, 2023

Current theory suggests that heterogeneous metapopulation structures can help foster the diffusion of innovations to solve pressing issues including climate change adaptation and promoting public health. In this paper, we develop an agent-based model of the spread of adaptations in simulated populations with minority-majority metapopulation structure, where subpopulations have different preferences for social interactions (i.e., homophily) and, consequently, learn deferentially from their own group. In our simulations, minority-majority-structured populations with moderate degrees of in-group preference better spread and maintained an adaptation compared to populations with more equal-sized groups and weak homophily. Minority groups act as incubators for novel adaptations, while majority groups act as reservoirs for the adaptation once it has spread widely. This suggests that population structure with in-group preference could promote the maintenance of novel adaptations.

Sciences (Social, Health, Biological, Physical)
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Research
Kay Giesecke
Professor of Management Science & Engineering
Person

Kay Giesecke

Professor of Management Science & Engineering
Industry, Innovation
Sciences (Social, Health, Biological, Physical)
Machine Learning
Person
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